Means for controlling starting motor and ignition circuits



H. H. TRAIL March 3, 1936.

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING STARTING MOTOR AND IGNITION CIRCUITS Filed. June9, 1930 INJULHT'ION INJUL H770 HTTX F13 x Ysuu? WYJUL 877017 PatentedMar. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES TENT orrica MEANS FOR CONTROLLING STARTINGMQTOR AND IGNITION CIRCUITS Application June 9, 1930, Serial No. 459,912

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in means for controlling startingmotor and ignition circuits and it consists of the matters hereinafterdescribed and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved means ofthis kind, which is so constructed as to simplify the manualmanipulation thereof to obtain desired results.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved means ofthis kind, which is so de-' signed to simplify the construction thereof.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide an automatic meansfor controlling a starting motor circuit, and a simplified means formanually controlling said circuit should the automatic means fail.

These objects of my invention as well as others,. together with the manyadvantages thereof, will appear as I proceed'with my specification.

Referring to the drawing which will illustrate by way of'example,convenient forms of the invention:-

Fig. l is a view partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal sectionof a coil unit part of my improved means for controlling starting motorand ignition circuits.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the coil unit taken on theline A of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical view through the coil unit as taken onthe line B of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of some of the component parts of the coilunit.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of my improved means for controllingstarting motor and ignition circuits.

Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 are diagrammatic views of a manually operated switchshown in Fig. 5, illustrating the operated parts in their variousrelative positions.

Referring now to that embodiment of the in= vention illustrated in theaccompanying drawing and more particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4thereof, i indicates as a whole, an ignition coil and a manuallyoperated switch adapted to control the coil circuit also a circuitarranged to control the starting motor circuit of an internal combustionengine. 2 is a cylindrical metal shell for enc1osing the ignition coiland circuit wires, 3 is a cap formed of insulating material supportingthe terminals 2311, it, .25 and two not shown, and arranged to close oneend of the cylinder shell 2. The other end of said shell is closed bythe metallic disc t formed with the extension 5 for the rotary movementof the contact member 8.

suitable attachment to the instrument board 01' an automobile.

A lock plug 6 is mounted for rotary movement within the extension 5 andis manually operated by the key 22 and is prevented from unauthorized 5operation by removal of the key. A fiber disc I is secured to the lockplug 6 by the screw ID for supporting and insulating a contact member 8.Recesses [B are formed in the periphery of the fiber disc 7 forreceiving the arms I] of the con- 10 tact member 8 and are much widerthan the width of the arms I! so as to permit of the disc I beingpartially rotated relative to the contact member 8 when said parts arein their relative assembled position as shown in Fig. l. A spring H ispo'si- 15 tioned between the disc 1 and the contact member 8, and oneend of the spring fits in a hole in the. disc and the other end fits ina hole in the contact member. This spring permits biasing the'contactmember 8 at one end of its limited rotary 0 movement within the recessesl8 of the disc, and

.permits biasing the contact member away from the disc I and towards theinsulating disc I 2 which is supported from the metal shell 2. Thecontact arm 9 is secured to the lock plug 6 by the screw ll! beforementioned thereby making a unit component of the lock plug 6, the fiberdisc 7 and the contact arm 9. The insulating disc l2 supports thecontacts I3, I 4, l5, and I6 which are arranged in circuit with theignition coil and a circuit for controlling a starting motor circuit.The contacts 2! of the contact member 8 are arranged in the path of thestationary contacts l3, l4, and

i5 of the insulating disc l2, so as to engage therewith while thecontact arm 9' is arranged in the 35 path of the stationary contact I 6of the insulating disc [2 so as to engage therewith. The stop arm 26 isformed on the contact member 8 and is arranged to coact with the stoppins 28 to limit While the stop pins 28 limit the rotary movement of thecontact member 8 they do not limit the movement of the contact arm 9which can be moved a further distance, amounting to the differencebetween the width of the arms ll of the contact member Sand the width ofthe recesses i8 of the fiber disc 5. This further movement of r thecontact arm 9 is indicated at It in Fig. 3 which shows the amount ofmovement of the contact arm 9 relative to the contact member 8.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 5, 6, and 7 of the drawing, whichshows diagrammatically, my improved means for controlling starting motorand ignition circuits. 29 and 30 represent the primary and secondarywindings of the iggoing to the spark plugs of the engine.

The starting motor 54 has attached to it a mechanical starting deviceincluding a pinion E53 which is caused to be moved axially into and outof engagement with the toothed ring gear 63. A contact ring 56 issecured to the pinion 67 and moves into and out of contact with thecontact arm 59 in circuit with the electro-magnet 42 which is arrangedto operate the contacts 63 of the starting motor circuit. 32 is anelectric storage battery. S represents a manually operated switch havinga stationary insulating disc l2 to which are secured the stationarycontacts l3, l4,

l5, l6, and the rotating contact member 6, and

the rotating contact arm 9 which is manually actuated by the lock plug6. The movement of the contact member 8 is limited bythe stop arm 26coacting with the stops 28. The contact arm 9 is insulated from thecontact member 8 and is caused to actuate the contact member 6 by anextension contacting with the projection 64a of the contact member 6when moved in one direction, and by said extension coacting with thespring II and the projection 65 when moved in another direction. In thismanner, manual op-= eration of the lock plug 6 can be caused to rotateboth the contact member 8 and the contact arm 9 together and when thecontact member 8 has been rotated the limit of its movement a furtherrotary movement can be imparted to the con-' tact arm 9 by compressingthe spring H by a further movement of the lock plug 6. Figure '7 showsthe switch components in their relative "off position. In Fig. 5 theswitch is shown with its component parts in their normal on position.Fig. 6 shows the switch components in their relative position when theignition circuit would be energized and a circuit controlling a startingmotor circuit has been established.

Assuming that the engine is stationary, when the switch component partswould be in their relative positions as shown in Fig. '7, and itdesirous of starting the engine; manual movement of the key 22, or thelock plug 6, in a clockwise directioncauses both the contact arm 9 andthe contact member 8 to be rotated in'a similar direction until the stoparm 26 contacts with thestop 28. Rotary movement of the contact member 8is then arrested and the parts are in their relative positions as shownin Fig. 5, when the projections 2! contact with the stationary contactsl3, l4, and

I5. Further manual movement of the key 22, or the lock plug 6 in aclockwise movement, causes the contact arm 9 to' contact with. thestationary contact I6, and in so doing the spring H is compressed.

The component parts of the switch are only maintained in their relativepositions as shown in Fig. 6 just so long as the operator manually holdsthe key 22 or the lock plug 6 at the maximum limit of its clockwisetravel, and immediately the operator releases the key the spring I 1causes the contact arm 9 to be rotated in an anti-clockwise directionand out of contact with the stationary contact l6.

When the operator actuates the switch from its oil? to its "on position,the switch parts move from the position shown in Fig. '7 to the positionshown in Fig. 6, and upon releasing the operating member such as thekey. 22 or the lock plug 6, the switch parts automatically move to therelative positions as shown in Fig. 5. which would be the normal onposition of the switch while the engine is running. It is thus seenthat, when the switch is actuated in the usual manner to its on"position, the contact arm 9 only momentarily contacts with thestationary contact i 6, while the contact member 8 is moved into contactwith the stationary contacts l3, l4, and i5 and is maintained in such aposition until the switch is manually actuated in an anti-clockwisedirection to its "oii' position.

Thus when the switch is actuated to its on" position, the contact member8 is actuated into contact with the stationary contacts i3, 94, and I5thereby energizing the ignition circuit of the engine by way of battery32 lead 33 terminal 4? lead 34 stationary contact l5 contact member 6contact l4 primary winding 29 lead 35 terminal 46 lead 31 timer 38 andto ground at 39 thereby causing secondary current to be transmitted tothe engine by way of the secondary winding 39 terminal 49 lead 62distributor 50 and the leads 5|. The contact arm 9 is also movedinto'contact with the stationary contact l6, momentarily, thusenergizing the electro-magnet 42 to energize starting motor circuit byway of battery 32 lead 3! lead 33 terminal 41 lead 34 stationary contactl5 contact member 8 stationary contact l3 lead 46 terminal 46 lead 4|electro-magnet 42 lead 43 terminal 44 lead 45 stationary contact l6contact arm 9 and to ground at 6!. Upon the electromagnet 42 becomingmomentarily energized it iscaused to close the contacts 63 thusenergizing the starting motor circuit by way of battery 32 lead 3| lead59 contacts63 and to ground by way of. lead 66.

Upon the starting motor being energized the pinion 51 and the .contactring 55move axially into driving engagement with the flywheel ring gear53' which in turn rotates the engine. The axial movement of the pinionand contact ring 55 causes it to contact with the contact arm 58. Bythis time the circuit which primarily energized the electro-magnet 42 isopened by the contact arm 9 being actuated by the spring ll out ofcontact with the contact I6 and the electro-magnet 42 is maintainedenergized by way of battery 32 leads 3i and 33 terminal 41 lead 34contact l5 contact member 8 contact l3 lead 40 terminal 46 lead 4|electro-magnet 42 lead 56 contact arm 58 contact ring 55 and to groundat 66. In this manner the electro-magnet is maintained. energized tokeep the contacts 63 closed and the starting motor energized until suchtime as theengine runs under its own power. At this time the ring gear53 causes the pinion 51' to overrun the speed of the starting motorwhereupon the pinion moves axially out of driving engagement with thering gear. This also moves the contact ring 55 out .of contact with thecontact arm 58 thereby de-energizing the electro-magnet which causes thespring 69 to de-energize the starting motor ,by opening the contacts 63.

Should the engine stall while the switch is in its normal on position asshown in Fig. 5 manual actuation of the key 22 or the lock plug 6,slightly in a clockwise direction compresses the spring ll andj'movesthe contact arm 9 into contactwith the stationary engagement I6 therebycausing the starting motor to be again energized in the mannerheretofore described. When the operator releases the key 22 or the lockplug 6, the spring II is caused to bias and move the eneasement arm 9out of contact with the stationary contact l6 to the position shown inFig. 5. I

In the arrangement oi the invention heretofore described, thede-energizing oi the starting motor circuit is automatic in its action,excepting when the operator purposely actuates the switch from its on toits "011 position when iii the component parts are actuated to theposition as shown in Fig. 7 which causes the deenergizing of both theignition and starting motor circuits.

To simplify the construction and to eliminate the automaticde-energizing of the starting m0- tor circuit should it be so desired,the lead 56 and the contact arm 58 may be eliminated, in which case itwould be necessary for the operator to overcome the resistance of thespring H to hold the contact arm 9 in contact with the stationarycontact IE to maintain the starting motor energized till the engine runsunder its own power. Upon the operator releasing the key 22 or the lockplug 6 the spring It would bias and actuate the contact arm 9 out ofcontact with the stationary contact l8 hereby deenergizing the startingmotor circuit without any effort on the part of the operator.

By the construction described I am enabled to control by a single manualoperation, both the starting motor circuit and the ignition circuit ofan internal combustion engine, and should the engine stop of itself, itcan again be started by merely applying a slight movement to themanually operated member in the same direction that is necessary toprimarily energize the starting motor and ignition circuits.

While in describing the invention, I have referred in detail to theform, arrangement and construction of the parts employed, the same is tobe considered merely as illustrative so that I do not wish to be limitedthereto except as may be specifically set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A switch embodying therein a plurality of i fixed contacts, acontactor turnable in one direction from its 0 to its on position andwherein it engages one of said fixed contacts, a second contactorturnable in said one direction from its oif to its on position whereinit engages the others of said contacts, yieldable means between saidcontactors operating when the first contactor is manually turned in saidone direction into its on position, to cause the second contactor toturn in the same direction into its on position, said yieldable meansoperating when said first contactor is released, to turn it in the otherdirection partway toward its off position wherein it is disengaged fromsaid one of said contacts, and means on said second contactor forstopping-the first contactor in its last mentioned position andpositively connecting both contactors together for a joint return to thefull cit position, when said first contactor is manually moved back toits full off position.

2. A switch embodying therein a plurality of fixed contacts, a contactorturnable in one direction from its 0 to its on position and wherein itengages one of said fixed contacts, a

second contactor turnable in said one direction from its off to its onposition wherein it engages the others of said contacts, stops fordetermining the foif and "031 positions of said second contact-or,yielding means between said contactors operating when the firstcontactor is manually turned in said one direction to its on position tocause the second contactor to turn in the same direction into its onposition, said yieldable means operating when first contactor isreleased, to turn it in the other direc- HERBERT H. TRAIL.

